Timescapes of Community Resilience and Vulnerability in the Circumpolar North

Historical relationships between people and a changing Arctic environment (which constitute a social-ecological system, or SES) can offer insights for management that promote both social and ecological resilience. The continued existence of healthy renewable resources around communities is particularly important, as subsistence and commercial use of local resources are often the only practical avenues to healthy, long-term security for those communities. Our research draws on the position that SESs exist in an environment that is explicitly temporal: frequently cyclic, changing, contextual, and contingent. Therefore, the causes and effect of disturbances to SESs are rarely temporally linear; instead, they are characterized by a complex array of hysteretic effects and alternate (possibly repeating) states. The term 'timescapes' describes the time-space context element and its fundamental importance to sustainable practices. We investigate social-ecological timescapes of the circumpolar North in relation to four primary provisioning practices (hunting/gathering, pastoralism, agriculture, and market-based economy). Broadly, we identify distinct social-ecological states, interspersed with periods of change. For specific communities that have maintained their existence through a series of periods of profound change, we propose that elements of social and ecological resilience have been neither incrementally lost nor gained through time; rather, they have waxed and waned in accordance with specific, and sometimes repeating, conditions. To maintain their existence, we believe, communities have had to maintain their ability to recognize gradual or rapid changes in social, ecological, or economic conditions and reorganize themselves to adapt to those changes, rather than to any specific outcomes of a change. That is, they have adapted to a dynamic environment, not a preferred state. However, centralized Western management, despite fundamental flaws in accounting for local linkages between culture, economics, and the environment, is increasingly circumscribing local practices. We believe that the significant challenge of maintaining equity and resilience of remote communities, within and outside the Arctic, will necessitate incorporating localized cultural values and decision-making processes that fostered prior community existence with (data from) Western interdisciplinary research.Les relations historiques entre les êtres humains et un milieu arctique en évolution (formant un système socio-écologique ou SSE) peuvent nous éclairer sur une gestion qui appuie à la fois la résilience sociale et la résilience écologique. La présence continue de ressources renouvelables saines dans les environs des collectivités est d'une importance capitale, vu que l'utilisation des ressources locales à des fins de subsistance et de commerce représente souvent le seul moyen concret d'assurer la santé à long terme de ces collectivités. Nos travaux partent du principe que les SSE existent dans un milieu qui est explicitement temporel: fréquemment cyclique, changeant, dépendant du contexte et contingent. Il en ressort que les causes et les conséquences des perturbations aux SSE sont rarement linéaires dans le temps, mais plutôt caractérisées par un ensemble complexe d'effets d'hystérésis et d'états alternatifs (se répétant éventuellement). L'expression «échelle de temps et d'espace» décrit l'élément du contexte spatio-temporel et son importance fondamentale pour les pratiques durables. On étudie les échelles de temps et d'espace socio-écologiques du Nord circumpolaire en rapport avec quatre pratiques primaires d'approvisionnement (chasse/cueillette, pastoralisme, agriculture et économie de marché). D'une façon générale, on dégage des phases socio-écologiques distinctes, séparées par des périodes de changement. Pour certaines collectivités qui ont survécu durant une série de périodes de changements profonds, on suggère que les éléments formant la résilience sociale et écologique n'ont pas disparu, pas plus qu'ils n'ont été acquis de façon progressive au cours du temps; ils ont plutôt fluctué selon des conditions spécifiques, qui se répétaient parfois. Afin de se perpétuer, selon nous, ces collectivités ont dû maintenir leur capacité à reconnaître les changements graduels ou rapides qui se manifestaient dans les conditions sociales, écologiques ou économiques, et se réorganiser elles-mêmes pour s'adapter à ces changements, plutôt qu'à des conséquences spécifiques issues des changements. Ce qui revient à dire que ces collectivités se sont adaptées à un environnement dynamique, et non à un état qu'elles privilégiaient. Cependant, bien qu'elle comporte des failles fondamentales concernant la reconnaissance des liens de nature locale entre culture, économie et environnement, la gestion occidentale centralisée limite de plus en plus les pratiques locales. On est d'avis que le grand défi pour maintenir l'équité et la résilience des collectivités isolées, dans l'Arctique et à l'extérieur, exigera que l'on intègre les valeurs de la culture locale et les processus décisionnels qui ont soutenu l'existence antérieure de la collectivité aux données de recherche interdisciplinaire occidentale

Toward a typology for social-ecological systems

Characterizing and understanding social-ecological systems (SESs) is increasingly necessary to answer questions about the development of sustainable human settlements. To date, much of the literature on SES analysis has focused on "neat" systems involving a single type of resource, a group of users, and a governance system. While these studies provide valuable and specific insights, they are of limited use for application to "messy" SESs that encompass the totality of human settlements, including social organization and technologies that result in the movement of materials, energy, water, and people. These considerations, in turn, create distribution systems that lead to different types of SESs. In messy SESs the concept of resilience, or the ability of a system to withstand perturbation while maintaining function, is further evolved to posit that different settlements will require different approaches to foster resilience. This article introduces a typology for refining SESs to improve short- and long-term adaptive strategies in developing human settlements

Contrasting stakeholder and scientist conceptual models of food-energy-water systems: a case study in Magic Valley, Southern Idaho

One of the factors for the success of simulation studies is close collaboration with stakeholders in developing a conceptual model. Conceptual models are a useful tool for communicating and understanding how real systems work. However, models or frameworks that are not aligned with the perceptions and understanding of local stakeholders can induce uncertainties in the model outcomes. We focus on two sources of epistemic uncertainty in building conceptual models of food-energy-water systems (FEWS): (1) context and framing; and (2) model structure uncertainty. To address these uncertainties, we co-produced a FEWS conceptual model with key stakeholders using the Actor-Resources-Dynamics-Interaction (ARDI) method. The method was adopted to specifically integrate public (and local) knowledge of stakeholders in the Magic Valley region of Southern Idaho into a FEWS model. We first used the ARDI method with scientists and modellers (from various disciplines) conducting research in the system, and then repeated the process with local stakeholders. We compared results from the two cohorts and refined the conceptual model to align with local stakeholders’ understanding of the FEWS. This co-development of a conceptual model with local stakeholders ensured the incorporation of different perspectives and types of knowledge of key actors within the socio-ecological systems models

Identification of the most suitable app to support the self-management of hypertension : systematic selection approach and qualitative study

Background: Smartphone apps are increasingly being used to aid in hypertension self-management, and a large and ever-growing number of self-management apps have been commercially released. However, very few of these are potentially effective and secure, and researchers have yet to establish the suitability of specific hypertension apps to particular contexts. Objective: The aim of this study is to identify the most suitable hypertension app in the context of Saudi Arabia and its health system. Methods: This study used a 2-stage approach to selecting the most suitable app for hypertension self-management. First, a systematic selection approach was followed to identify a shortlist of the most suitable apps according to the criteria of potential effectiveness, theoretical underpinning, and privacy and security. Second, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted to select the most suitable from the shortlist: 12 doctors were interviewed, and 22 patients participated in 4 focus groups. These explored participants’ attitudes towards self-management apps in general, and their views towards the apps identified via the systematic selection process. The qualitative data were analyzed using framework analysis. Results: In the first stage, only 5 apps were found to be potentially effective while also having a theoretical underpinning and protecting users’ data. In the second stage, both doctors and patients were generally interested in using hypertension apps, but most had no experience with these apps due to a lack of awareness of their availability and suitability. Patients and doctors liked apps that combine intuitive interfaces with a pleasant and clear visual design, in-depth features (eg, color-coded feedback accompanied with textual explanations), activity-specific reminders, and educational content regarding hypertension and potential complications. When the pros and cons of the 5 apps were discussed, 3 apps were identified as being more suitable, with Cora Health rated the highest by the participants. Conclusions: Only 5 apps were deemed potentially effective and secure. Patients’ and doctors’ discussions of the pros and cons of these 5 apps revealed that 3 out of the 5 are clearly more suitable, with the Cora Health app being judged most suitable overall

Smartphone apps to support self-management of hypertension : review and content analysis

Background: Hypertension is a widespread chronic disease, and its effective treatment requires self-management by patients. Health-related apps provide an effective way of supporting hypertension self-management. However, the increasing range and variety of hypertension apps available on the market, owing to the global growth in apps, creates the need for patients and health care professionals to be informed about the effectiveness of these apps and the levels of privacy and security that they provide. Objective: This study aimed to describe and assess all available apps supporting hypertension self-management in the most popular app stores and investigate their functionalities. Methods: In January 2018, the UK Apple and Google Play stores were scanned for all free and paid apps supporting hypertension self-management. Apps were included if they were in English, had functionality supporting hypertension self-management, and targeted adult users with hypertension. The included apps were downloaded and their functionalities were investigated. Behavior change techniques (BCTs) linked with the theoretical domain framework (TDF) underpinning potentially effective apps were independently coded by two reviewers. The data privacy and security of the apps were also independently assessed. Results: A total of 186 hypertension apps that met the inclusion criteria were included in this review. The majority of these apps had only one functionality (n=108), while the remainder offered different combinations of functionalities. A small number of apps had comprehensive functionalities (n=30) that are likely to be more effective in supporting hypertension self-management. Most apps lacked a clear theoretical basis, and 24 BCTs identified in these 30 apps were mapped to 10 TDF mechanisms of actions. On an average, 18.4 BCTs were mapped to 6 TDF mechanisms of actions that may support hypertension self-management behaviors. There was a concerning absence of evidence related to the effectiveness and usability of all 186 apps, and involvement of health care professionals in the app development process was minimal. Most apps did not meet the current standards of data security and privacy. Conclusions: Despite the widespread accessibility and availability of smartphone apps with a range of combinations of functionalities that can support the self-management of hypertension, only a small number of apps are likely to be effective. Many apps lack security measures as well as a clear theoretical basis and do not provide any evidence concerning their effectiveness and usability. This raises a serious issue, as health professionals and those with hypertension have insufficient information to make decisions on which apps are safe and effective

Mobile Apps to Support the Self-Management of Hypertension: Systematic Review of Effectiveness, Usability, and User Satisfaction

Background: Hypertension is a chronic disease that is considered to be a public health problem and requires efforts by patients to manage themselves. The global growth in the use of mobile phones and tablets has been accompanied by the increased use of health apps. Many of these apps support the self-management of hypertension and, therefore, they have the potential benefits of lowering blood pressure. Despite this, there is currently a lack of evidence for their effectiveness, usability, and patient satisfaction with their use. Objective: A systematic review was conducted to assess the effectiveness of apps in lowering blood pressure, as well as their usability and patients’ satisfaction with their use. Methods: We conducted searches in the following databases: MEDLINE (OVID), EMBASE (OVID), PsycINFO (OVID), CINAHL, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL, The Cochrane Library), IEEE Xplore ASSIAN, Google Scholar and the main Arabic databases Al Manhal, AskZad, and Mandumah. We looked for studies that used apps in the self-management of hypertension from 2008-2016. We also checked the reference lists of the review papers and all the primary studies for additional references. Results: A total of 21 studies with a total of 3112 participants were included in the review. Of the 14 studies that assessed the effectiveness of the apps in lowering blood pressure, 10 (71.4%) studies (6 RCTs and 4 nonrandomized studies) reported that using the apps led to significant decreases in blood pressure and seemed to be effective in the self-management of hypertension. Of these 10, only 2 (20%) RCTs and 3 (30%) nonrandomized studies had a low–moderate risk of bias. The results of this review are inconclusive regarding which combinations of functionalities would be most effective in lowering blood pressure because of variation in the studies’ quality, but the data suggest that apps incorporating more comprehensive functionalities are likely to be more effective. In all the studies that assessed the usability of the apps and users’ acceptance of them, all the apps seemed to be accepted and easy to use. Conclusions: Most of the studies reported that apps might be effective in lowering blood pressure and are accepted by users. However, these findings should be interpreted with caution, as most of the studies had a high risk of bias. More well-designed, large-scale studies are required to evaluate the real effect of using apps in lowering blood pressure and to identify the most effective functionality combinations for lowering blood pressure

Transfer learning with audioSet to voice pathologies identification in continuous speech

The classification of pathological diseases with the implementation of concepts of Deep Learning has been increasing considerably in recent times. Among the works developed there are good results for the classification in sustained speech with vowels, but few related works for the classification in continuous speech. This work uses the German Saarbrücken Voice Database with the phrase “Guten Morgen, wie geht es Ihnen?” to classify four classes: dysphonia, laryngitis, paralysis of vocal cords and healthy voices. Transfer learning concepts were used with the AudioSet database. Two models were developed based on Long-Short-Term-Memory and Convolutional Network for classification of extracted embeddings and comparison of the best results, using cross-validation. The final results allowed to obtaining 40% of f1-score for the four classes, 66% f1-score for Dysphonia x Healthy, 67% for Laryngitis x healthy and 80% for Paralysis x Healthy.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Using a commercially available app for the self-management of hypertension : acceptance and usability study in Saudi Arabia

Background: The use of smartphone apps to assist in the self-management of hypertension is becoming increasingly common, but few commercially available apps have the potential to be effective along with adequate security and privacy measures in place. In a previous study, we identified 5 apps that are potentially effective and safe, and based on the preferences of doctors and patients, one (Cora Health) was selected as the most suitable app for use in a Saudi context. However, there is currently no evidence of its usability and acceptance among potential users. Indeed, there has been little research into the usability and acceptance of hypertension apps in general, and less research considers this in the Gulf Region. Objective: This study aims to evaluate the acceptance and usability of the selected app in the Saudi context. Methods: This study used a mixed methods approach with 2 studies: a usability test involving patients in a controlled setting performing predefined tasks and a real-world usability study where patients used the app for 4 weeks. In the usability test, participants were asked to think aloud while performing the tasks, and an observer recorded the number of tasks they completed. At the end of the real-world pilot study, participants were interviewed, and the mHealth App Usability Questionnaire was completed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to analyze qualitative data. Results: In total, 10 patients completed study 1. The study found that app usability was moderate and that participants needed some familiarization time before they could use the app proficiently. Some usability issues were revealed, related to app accessibility and navigation, and a few tasks remained uncompleted by most people. A total of 20 patients completed study 2, with a mean age of 51.6 (SD 11.7) years. Study 2 found that the app was generally acceptable and easy to use, with some similar usability issues identified. Participants stressed the importance of practice and training to use it more easily and proficiently. Participants had a good engagement level with 48% retention at the end of study 2, with most participants’ engagement being classed as meaningful. The most recorded data were blood pressure, followed by stress and medication, and the most accessed feature was viewing graphs of data trends. Conclusions: This study shows that a commercially available app can be usable and acceptable in the self-management of hypertension but also found a considerable number of possibilities for improvement, which needs to be considered in future app development. The results show that there is potential for a commercially available app to be used in large-scale studies of hypertension self-management if suggestions for improvements are addressed

Stress related epigenetic changes may explain opportunistic success in biological invasions in Antipode mussels

Different environmental factors could induce epigenetic changes, which are likely involved in the biological invasion process. Some of these factors are driven by humans as, for example, the pollution and deliberate or accidental introductions and others are due to natural conditions such as salinity. In this study, we have analysed the relationship between different stress factors: time in the new location, pollution and salinity with the methylation changes that could be involved in the invasive species tolerance to new environments. For this purpose, we have analysed two different mussels’ species, reciprocally introduced in antipode areas: the Mediterranean blue mussel Mytilus galloprovincialis and the New Zealand pygmy mussel Xenostrobus securis, widely recognized invaders outside their native distribution ranges. The demetylathion was higher in more stressed population, supporting the idea of epigenetic is involved in plasticity process. These results can open a new management protocols, using the epigenetic signals as potential pollution monitoring tool. We could use these epigenetic marks to recognise the invasive status in a population and determine potential biopollutants

ANATOMOPATOLOGIA DA PARATUBERCULOSE EM BOVINOS LEITEIRO DE RESENDE- R.J

A Paratuberculose, uma doença causada pelo Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), é caracterizada por uma enterite crônica granulomatosa. Visamos registrar a anatomopatologia de três casos de paratuberculose em bovinos leiteiros autóctones oriundos de Resende-RJ. Esses animais apresentavam sinais clínicos de paratuberculose e, após teste de ELISA positivo, foram eutanasiados e necropsiados. Amostras de intestino, linfonodos mesentéricos e válvula ileocecal foram colhidas, fixadas em formol neutro tamponado a 10%,  processadas  e coradas pelo HE (hematoxilina-eosina) e ZN (Ziehl-Neelsen). Alterações macroscópicas, como espessamento da parede do intestino delgado, mucosas congestas e corrugadas, foram observadas. A linfadenomegalia e linfangectasia também foram evidentes, assim como a congestão e edemaciação das válvulas ileocecais. Os principais achados histopatológicos foram enterite, linfangite e linfadenite granulomatosas. As lesões intestinais se resumiam à mucosa e submucosa, principalmente do jejuno e do íleo e caracterizavam-se por infiltrado inflamatório de linfócitos, eosinófilos e macrófagos epitelióides. A coloração de ZN demonstrou bacilos álcool ácido resistentes (BAAR) nos macrófagos, no ápice das vilosidades e lâmina própria e, ainda, no parênquima dos linfonodos mesentéricos. A anatomopatologia foi característica e considerada uma valiosa ferramenta no diagnóstico da paratuberculose. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: anatomopatológico; bovino; Map; paratuberculos